MOE: We lost S$7.16 million to foreign students who default education loan

In their latest response to the AGO report scandal, the Ministry of Education (MOE) revealed that they lost S$7.16 million, as of Jun 2015, to students who default on their education loan. It is understood that the students who defaulted on the education loans are foreigners because the sum cannot be claimed back from their guarantors who are also foreigners, which led to the default.

MOE currently possess S$511.49 million in outstanding education loans, and 1.4% (S$7.16 million) are considered “unrecoverable”. Although the MOE did not specify the breakdown how much loan was disbursed to Singaporean students and foreign students, it is common knowledge foreign students default on their education loan and scholarship obligations by simply refusing to return to Singapore. Also in the highlight, MOE revealed that the education loans are “non-profit” and that students can loan for as far back as 20 years. Singaporean students studying in private tertiary education are however not given such luxury.

The MOE refuse to take responsibility for their failure to recover the S$228.04 million overdue loan from former students from NTU and NUS, by claiming to say they are “not profit-driven like commercial ones”. The two Education Minister, Ong Ye Kung and Ng Chee Meng, refused to comment on the issue and pushed the ministry to handle queries of the AGO report scandal.